Microsoft is being closed mouthed about the sales numbers for Windows Phone 7 but the indications are that it is doing well:
Early reports hint that Windows Phone 7 has been selling strongly in international markets, with DigiTimes reporting in a Nov. 3 article that sales of HTC-build Windows Phone 7 smartphones are better than expected in Europe and Australia. In the U.K., news outlets reported a lack of available phones through carrier Orange.
“Early supporters of the new operating system such as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are also experiencing rising demand from carriers,” suggested the DigiTimes article, which sourced its information as unnamed “Taiwan-based handset makers.”
TheStreet.com, citing an unnamed “market research source,” reported some 40,000 Windows Phone 7 devices sold in the United States on the first day of release. Neither Microsoft nor AT&T offered exact figures when contacted by eWEEK, although an AT&T spokesperson said the carrier was “encouraged by early demand from customers in stores and online.”
Microsoft employees (such as myself) were asked to not purchase new WP7 phones for a few days so the local stores would have phones in stock for the general public.
I haven’t decided which one I will get yet and I don’t really have a strong recommendation at this time. I have three “engineering units” in hand which I have been using for quite some time and will get my personal phone within the next few weeks.
How do you like working for Microsoft? I’m just curious. I know the company has changed a lot from the early days, but you seem to be quite comfortable with it? (Notice the question mark at the end of that last sentence.)
If you don’t want to post on here, feel free to e-mail me at the e-mail address I post on here.
I like it a lot. It is quite invigorating working with smart people on world changing products.
Congratulations on shipping. I’m going to guess Microsoft can write an ActiveSync for Exchange implementation much better than Google did for Android. Google’s crappy EAS implementation is one big weakness with that platform. Then there’s Research in Motion, who’s products are so awful I don’t even want to talk about it.
Just out of curiosity, will the devices support Flash? It would be awfully nice if Microsoft joined the kill Flash brigade.
Flash will be supported. If I understand things correctly there is supposed to be a free app you download and install. But my attempt to find it failed so it may not be available yet or my “engineering phone” may not have the right permission or something…
We ended up going with Android machines, but after tinkering around with a Windows phone at the store, I have to admit I am fairly impressed… I had an old Windows 5 phone, and between the interface and the resistive screen, it was pretty much a pain in the ass… but it got on wifi, which was all I was really after at the time. However, 7 is just plain slick, and has plenty of useful features to go along with its prettiness…
So, anywise, good job and all that, from someone who has no real place saying so ;).